LESSONS LEARNED FROM TECH DUE DILIGENCE OF SUCCESSFUL AFRICAN STARTUPS​

Key success factors for African startups seeking funding often lie in overcoming critical challenges that can hinder their growth. After auditing over twenty African startups, we identified recurring technological and organizational obstacles.

To share our observations and promote the success of African startups, we organized an event focused on this topic. In this article, we present the key insights from our audits.This article delves into these challenges, emphasizing the importance of aligning technology with real-world needs and the indispensable role of complementary founding teams.The primacy of the problem over technology

Imagine a startup with revolutionary technology that fails because it doesn’t address any real need. This is a common scenario in today’s tech ecosystem. Technology is only useful if it solves a real problem. No matter how advanced, innovative, or attractive a technology may be, if it doesn’t address a significant problem for a large enough group of users, it won’t provide the necessary value to sustain a business.

In the startup ecosystem, particularly in the tech sector, the excitement over the latest innovations can often overshadow the most crucial element of success.

I.UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM, NOT JUST THE TECHNOLOGY: A KEY TO AFRICAN STARTUP SUCCESS

The key success factors for African startups lie not primarily in using the latest technologies, but in a deep understanding of the problem to be solved and the ability to propose a viable solution.. This principle is evident in all the African startups audited by BAAMTU.

Aligning technological solutions with real problems is a constant race, often misunderstood, yet essential for the survival and expansion of any startup. It is the relevance of the solution to the problem, not the sophistication of the technology, that determines the success or failure of a startup.

THE PIVOTAL ROLE OF TEAMS IN STARTUP SUCCESS: INSIGHTS FOR AFRICAN STARTUPS

Although a startup’s success depends on many factors, the complementarity of the founders’ skills is crucial. A team of founders with varied and complementary skills, who share a common vision and work well together, has a better chance of overcoming challenges and leading the startup to success than a solo founder.

BAAMTU has indeed observed the importance of a solid and versatile co-founding team. The success of a startup does not rest on an individual but on a team of co-founders with varied and complementary skills. This diversity brings a wealth of perspectives and solutions.

CONCRETE EXAMPLES OF TECHNICAL CHALLENGES IN AFRICAN STARTUPS

However, the journey of these startups is fraught with pitfalls. BAAMTU has identified several recurring and common problems:

• Lack of separation between production, development, and QA environments: Generally, it is recommended to maintain a strict separation between these environments to prevent bugs or vulnerabilities discovered in one environment from contaminating the others, thus threatening the overall system’s stability and security.
• Absence of automated testing: Automated tests are essential for ensuring software quality. They allow for rapid detection of issues, speeding up the development cycle and product delivery.
• Scalability issues: A rapidly growing startup must ensure that its IT infrastructure can scale accordingly.
• Insufficient adoption of DevSecOps approaches: Integrating security at every stage of the software development process reduces the risks of data breaches or other security issues.
• Modular application design issues: Software is easier to manage and maintain when its code is divided into distinct modules, each with a specific function.
• Lack of data and AI strategies, and security strategy: These strategies are crucial for improving products and services, offering better user experiences, making predictions, and automating processes.
• Lack of senior technical expertise (SPOF): A technical team without experienced leadership can face complex challenges requiring specialized expertise, which can slow development, compromise quality, and affect product delivery.
• Mismatch between workload and technical resources: When there is an imbalance between workload and available resources, it can lead to overwork, which can eventually cause errors and a drop in quality.
• High staff turnover and difficulties in integrating new employees and training juniors: These factors can disrupt operational continuity, affect team dynamics, and jeopardize the startup’s goals.

II.OVERCOMING CHALLENGES IN AFRICAN STARTUPS: BAAMTU’S SOLUTIONS FOR SUCCESS

Here are some specific recommendations:

• Continually strengthen technical skills: In a constantly evolving world, it is vital to continually improve the technical skills of the team. Contact BAAMTU to access our training catalog in software engineering, data engineering, security, data visualization (Tableau, Power BI), artificial intelligence, and more.
• Adopt new technologies: Staying up to date and adopting new technologies opens new opportunities and allows for more effective solutions. BAAMTU constantly monitors the latest technologies to bring the best to you.
• Improve automation: Automation can improve efficiency, reduce errors, and free up time for value-added tasks. BAAMTU implements automated CI/CD pipelines in all its projects.
• Strengthen security: Cybersecurity is more important than ever. BAAMTU helps companies integrate security at every stage of their development, testing, and deployment cycles.
• Focus on infrastructure quality and high availability: Quality infrastructure and high availability are essential for optimal performance and a seamless user experience. BAAMTU assists organizations in leveraging the cloud to ensure high availability and robust big data infrastructure.
• Develop a robust data and AI strategy: Data is the new oil. A solid data strategy can reveal valuable insights and lead to informed decision-making. BAAMTU guides organizations in maximizing data usage, from data engineering to AI-driven data exploitation.
  

We’ve also written an article on developing strategic skills in business. Feel free to check it out to learn more about this important topic.